PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Deborah Voorhees is best known for her role as Tina in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, but she has also been murdered in a few other horror films. She is producing and directing a horror thriller and a horror comedy with her production partner, Joel Reisig. Deborah attends horror conventions. She has an active horror Facebook group called “Deborah Voorhees Shear Horror Group.” Check out what she has to say about being a woman in horror! Here we go!
Deborah Voorhees:
It is a heady proposition to answer the question, “What is it like to be a Woman of Horror?”
Is it different than being a Man of Horror? I really don’t know, since I have never walked in those shoes, and men rarely, if ever, get asked this type of gender-specific question.
So how do I answer it? Traditionally, women hold fewer jobs in almost all areas of the film industry. Going door-to-door and asking for work as a producer, director, cinematographer or crewmember is tough for everyone, but even harder for women. Women make up half the students in film school, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, they only make up 7% of hired directors, 13% of writers, 24% producers, 17% editors and 5% cinematographers.
So how do we combat this? This may seem counterintuitive, but it isn’t by banging on doors and asking men for jobs. We’ve tried that for years. It hasn’t worked. Years go by, and that big break never comes.
So what can help? First, we can open our own production companies and let men come to us for jobs. We can prove ourselves in our own arenas. We write, produce, shoot, and edit our own work. Work that sells will get you more work. Horror sells. Remember, Friday the 13th started as a low-budget indie film.
In truth, this isn’t really radical. It is just taking a page from the men’s handbook. The major male players very often create their own companies.
I immediately hear, “I don’t have the kind of money to make that happen.” The moment I committed to producing and directing my first film, I didn’t have a camera, I didn’t know how to use the editing software and had ZERO money.
The horror genre is a perfect arena for women to succeed for many reasons. Horror films can be made for less than other genres. The fans are loyal and don’t care if you’re male or female behind the camera, as long as you scare the shit out of them.
Horror offers some of the best female roles for actresses. Women do not just portray the classic naked/victim roles (like mine), but also get to play the Final Girl and the killer. The heroines in horror are as beloved as the victims. The only place where men trump women is in the killer role. There are more male killers, and the killers are, by far, the most revered. I’d love to add a woman’s name to the great slasher villains: Jason, Michael, Freddy…
So being a woman of horror is freeing. It is a place to go to spread my wings and create intense, spellbinding stories that go boo in the dark.
Deborah Voorhees Via IMDB
My road to horror was unexpected. I was busy watching romantic comedies and dark comedies when I was offered the role in Friday the 13th. Rarely did I watch scary movies because I am VERY easily frightened at movies. Over the years, I have grown to love the genre, especially ghost stories and horror thrillers and horror comedies.
Right now, I am elated to have both a horror thriller and a horror comedy in pre-production. Both are intense and groundbreaking. I want to open up roles for women and get rid of some of the outdated horror rules.
Now, I really enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes with horror films. Being a woman in horror has been an amazing journey that has introduced me to some amazing horror fans. Honestly, horror fans are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. My best advice to someone trying to break into the business is to get out there and do the work. Write that short, film it with your buddy’s borrowed camera and shop lights. Don’t wait for permission. It is a wild and challenging ride to work in horror and worth every minute of it.
Final Thought
